Nice try, private equity. Two events in Asia show that getting into deals remains easier than getting out of them. They also prove Li Ka-shing’s smarts, yet again.
In Hong Kong, WH Group decided on Wednesday to halve the size of its initial public offering rather than cut its price range. This will keep its private equity backers – including Goldman Sachs’ investment unit – from exiting as planned. In Tokyo, Seibu Holdings, the conglomerate that owns Japan’s biggest hotel chain (among other businesses) jumped 11 per cent on its debut. But that came only after management’s decision to slash the offering price by as much as 30 per cent. The cut prompted Cerberus, the largest shareholder, to hold on to its shares, cutting the size of the IPO by over half. Cerberus has been an investor since 2006. Its decision to sit tight is another sign that in Asia, private equity is struggling to match its own expectations with the market’s.
Last month, Mr Li came in for some criticism (not least from fee-starved bankers) for selling 25 per cent of AS Watson, his pharmacies and supermarket business, to Temasek. The deal valued Watsons at $23bn. A public float was expected to price it at least $25bn. As others face resistance in the market, doing the deal in one go with a long-term investor looks astute. The transaction also raised the value of the overall Hutchison Whampoa group, in which AS Watson sits. Since deal talk surfaced last summer, analysts’ focus on the unit helped lift Hutch’s shares 25 per cent. The Hang Seng, meanwhile, is up 5 per cent.